Outpatient Care Facilities

Healthcare services have steadily shifted from inpatient to outpatient care, particularly for patients that do not require hospitalization and can be treated and released. As healthcare systems increasingly embrace this upward trend, they are redesigning their buildings or remodeling their clinics to allocate space and facilities for more ambulatory care. The movement towards treating patients in an outpatient setting is influenced by new technologies and developments in pain management/anesthesia and that improve the ability of clinicians to provide outpatient versus inpatient services. However, with increased volume of patients, a wide variety of procedures and services and advanced technology, the risk of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is of concern.

In May 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a "Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings: Minimum Expectations for Safe Care." Outpatient facilities are expected to follow this guide, which is based on the guidelines used for decades in inpatient settings. Federal, state and accreditation surveyors will follow these guidelines when conducting visits in the outpatient setting.

Infection Control Consulting Services (ICCS) is experiencing a high demand for on-site visits and development of written programs for outpatient facilities as the popularity of accreditation spreads from inpatient facilities to outpatient care. ICCS has been successful in assisting outpatient centers nationwide with their accreditation surveys, including those performed by The Joint Commission, and clients have responded favorably to the services provided.

ICCS specializes in providing a wide range of infection prevention services for outpatient care facilities. They include the following:

On-site visits to assess "best practices," which includes a written analysis of findings and suggestions for areas of improvement